Despite all of the negative aspects that come with this age of digital media; file sharing, music piracy, and the decline of the music industry as we once knew it, one thing that is certainly a positive is the networking capabilities that bands now have at their disposal. Where once a band’s success depended upon word of mouth from those they contacted via their live performances and the trading of demo tapes, they now have the capability of reaching ears across the world through various websites, webzines, and so forth, and while record sales plummet the truth is music has never been more readily available to the world. Case in point: Fireproven.

Hailing from Finland Fireproven consist of Juha Väätämöinen on bass and vocals, Janne Väätämöinen on guitar, Nuutti Hannula on drums, and Ilari Hannula on keyboards. Formed in 2008, this EP was released in July of 2011. At their core Fireproven are a melo-death outfit, but rather than riding a melody like most in the genre they focus on groove oriented riffs while allowing the keyboards to create an atmosphere that carries the music. Musicianship is strong across the board, and above average song writing with thought provoking lyrics lead me to believe that these guys can really grow into a contender in their respective scene. All three tracks are worthy, but standing out for me is Ghost in the Machine, which really displays what Fireproven are capable of with an avante-garde flavor that pulls them out of the average mix and warrants your attention. My criticism is small, regarding the death vocals which are serviceable as they are, but I can’t help but wonder at the potential if they try to mix it up with some clean vocals, or perhaps some electronic effects. Given their self-proclaimed no boundaries policy, I doubt the idea is that farfetched for them, but doing so I believe will round out their sound nicely.

Regardless, this is an EP with the purpose of drawing the listener’s attention, and with that in mind I give emphatic thumbs up. Hopefully there is a full length debut album in the near future for Fireproven, and I will be looking forward to it. Promising!